2016 has seen a massive 55% growth in the number of national coupon promotions issued by FMCG manufacturers in the Irish market compared to 2015.

One explanatory factor is the growth in marketing budget allocations to couponing activity. But another significant driver is the rising confidence amongst issuers regarding adherence to redemption rules, due in no small part to PromoPay® real-time validation at checkout (now operational in 30% of the Irish grocery market).

For some years, most large grocery retailers have been able to validate their own loyalty vouchers at point of sale. The significance of PromoPay is not only that it provides real-time validation of these retailer issued promotions, but also of third party offers such as manufacturer coupons.

According to Neil Cooke, Chairman of PPS, “because consumers are largely unaware of where real-time electronic validation is in operation, there is no doubt they pay much more attention to promotion rules before trying to redeem an offer at checkout. As an industry, our current challenge is to the cement the new levels of confidence by driving the adoption of independent electronic validation and clearing throughout the retail industry.”

If you would like more detailed information on the coupon market in 2016, please contact our client services department.